The Greatest Warrior of All Time Returns

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Chapter 25

“Wow, damn. This is amazing.”

“This isn’t it. This is an insult to ice cream!”

“Are you crazy? It tastes good, so what’s the big deal?”

Unfortunately, it tasted quite different from the ice cream I used to make in the past.

I swallowed my tears of frustration.

Was it because of the lack of ingredients?

Or did I forget to add something?

Was it the quality of the ingredients?

I had thought it would turn out well since many of the ingredients were similar to those in my previous life, but it left me with a sense of regret.

“Hey, give me more.”

On the other hand, Melissa seemed to enjoy the taste quite a bit as she held out her empty bowl to me.

“Do you have a pig growing inside you? Eat in moderation.”

“Hey, I’m telling you, this is really good! Give me more!”

Whoever ends up taking her in as their responsibility, I pity them…

Clicking my tongue, I handed her another serving of my failed ice cream prototype.

Melissa, grinning as if releasing all her pent-up stress, happily dug into the ice cream.

“Hey. Eat too much of that, and you’ll gain weight.”

“Have you ever seen an Expert gain weight? Calorie management is a breeze for me. Ahhh… Eating this while managing my aura feels like my overheated body is quickly cooling down. This is amazing… My brain is tingling…”

Well, if she says it’s good, what can I do?

She seemed pretty satisfied, but I wasn’t convinced this would turn into a money-maker.

“Leon! Let’s sell this! I’m telling you, this will make money!”

“Ugh… Are you kidding me? You want to bankrupt a business?”

“No, I’m serious! It’s tasty, and the ingredients are relatively cheap. No, wait, what if we make this a specialty of the count’s territory and attract trade?”

“It’s not that simple.”

“What’s the problem?”

I tapped on the failed ice cream prototype.

“It’ll probably be popular at first. For a short while.”

“And then it won’t?”

“You’ll see for yourself. Here, eat up.”

I handed her more ice cream, which she ate enthusiastically.

“Here.”

And she ate again.

While she kept eating whatever I gave her, her face soon scrunched up in a grimace.

“Ugh, it’s getting tiresome…”

“See what I mean? Sure, it’s tasty. But it’s a failed product. The flavor gets tiresome quickly.”

It wasn’t that the taste was bad, but the fundamental issue was that it was a flavor you’d grow tired of too fast.

“Would people really keep eating this after getting sick of it?”

“Hmm… You’re right… So, this is a failure, huh?”

“Exactly. But that doesn’t mean the business idea itself is a failure. It’s worth trying. Making money comes after that.”

So, for now, I decided to focus on refining it further.

A taste that wasn’t overly stimulating yet wouldn’t tire people out quickly.

That was the key.

“Still, it’s a good start. I’ll handle this, so you deal with cleaning up the Tyvel estate and taking care of the rescued non-humans.”

It was taking a long time to break their slave contracts, so they were still staying here.

“Once the slave contracts are broken, those who want to return home can be picked up by their people. But some of them said they have no place to return to. I plan to take them in.”

“Even though it’s the same Cascadia? There are people who want to stay?”

“Those whose minds are broken. They’ve lost the will to escape slavery on their own, so they need treatment.”

“How many?”

“I’m still figuring it out, but it’s not a small number. For now, I plan to hire them as staff and provide them with food and lodging.”

If I could safely return the non-humans, it would help prevent a major conflict.

After all, I had no intention of picking a fight with a giant power like the World Tree.

The recovery of the abducted non-humans had to be handled with care.

Now that the biggest crisis was over, I expected no more disruptions to my rest.

Or at least, that’s what I thought.

About two weeks had passed since the monster incident.

Most of the aftermath had been dealt with, and we had retrieved everything from Tyvel’s estate.

Of course, I still had the treasures we found in the vault.

Melissa had recovered quickly and could now walk around without crutches, and the injured could at least move around a bit.

It was the first time in a long while that I felt this kind of peace and relaxation.

“Young Master.”

I was in the kitchen, researching with the chef, when a maid called for me.

“What’s the matter?”

“The lady is urgently looking for you.”

She still had to head to the royal capital soon to officially become an Expert and be recognized as the heir to the count’s title.

What now?

When I arrived at her office, I saw her smirking mockingly, which made me clench my fists.

“What’s with that look? It’s annoying.”

“Pfft… You’re in big trouble.”

She waved a letter in her hand playfully.

“Do you know what this is?”

The letter she was shaking looked luxurious, just from the texture of the paper.

It seemed to be addressed to Melissa.

For some reason, a sense of foreboding started to grow.

The Melissa I knew wouldn’t be smiling like that for something good.

I began to rack my brain.

What were the situations in which she smiled like that?

-Leon, Father wants you to train. Hehehe… Come with me. I’ll make sure you regret it today.

-Leon, I told Father about your screw-up. He’s furious and told me to bring you to him. Run while you can. I’ll give you a ten-second head start.

-Leon…

“Oh, crap!”

Reflexively, I turned to flee, but the dagger in her hand flew past me and embedded itself into the door behind me.

“Where do you think you’re going, you little punk?”

“You’re throwing knives at your own brother? Are you out of your mind?”

“Hey, I still haven’t forgotten that time you drew a mustache on me while I was passed out.”

So petty!

I looked at her with a face of utter disbelief.

“It’s been over two weeks, and you’re still harping on about that?”

“Yup, even if years pass, I’ll never forget it.”

I couldn’t help but marvel at her relentless grudge.

“Sigh... So, what is it?”

“What do you think it looks like?”

She grinned slyly.

“Damn it. I asked you what it is.”

“Hehe... Hehehehe.”

The louder her laughter grew, the more uneasy I felt.

She was the acting head of the family.

In other words, if she said to do something, you had no choice but to obey.

“Mielephon.”

“Hmm?”

“It’s a request for approval of the engagement dowry list. Wow, this is quite surprising… They’re even sending a sword as part of Mielephon’s response.”

“Huh? But we only agreed to let rumors spread that we’re just talking about the engagement, right? Why is there suddenly talk of a dowry...?”

Exactly.

[Translator - Night]

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It was supposed to be just idle talk, so there was no need for something as formal as sending a letter.

A strange sense of unease welled up.

“Are you out of your mind? The fact that a prestigious family like Mielephon is rumored to have positively considered the engagement is already circulating. If you don’t prepare a dowry now, what do you think people will say?”

I didn’t know that.

“Hmm, is that so?”

"Is that so, my foot."

Come to think of it, she wasn’t wrong.

If it were dismissed as a mere rumor, the deal wouldn’t go through.

So, silence had to be kept even at Mielephon.

But if they simply spread rumors, the reputation of their family would be ruined.

As if mocking me, she pulled out the family head’s seal.

“Hey... Hey! You crazy woman! Stop!!”

“I’m not stopping. Wow! I’m jealous. You’re going to marry a rich and powerful noble lady?”

“Don’t be ridiculous. Quit joking around.”

“Nope, I can’t. If you refuse this, it’ll blow up.”

Even though I sent them a generous dowry list, if it gets rejected, it’ll only take a moment before Cascadia gets branded as greedy.

Nobles tend to place unnecessary importance on honor.

In other words, to put it plainly…

It’s no different than being told to shut down the business.

I yelled out in frustration, but she smiled wickedly and stamped the seal on the document with a loud thud.

“Take that, you bastard.”

Why did I ever save her?

I felt like I was about to lose consciousness.

“This… Is this really turning into such a hassle?”

“From the start, even if it was just an empty promise, you’re the one who brought it up first. They accepted it! If you say just one word, we’re the ones left speechless. In this situation, on what grounds are you going to reject the dowry?”

“Hm…”

Now that she said it, it made sense.

“It’s not just any amount. The moment you reject this, you become nothing but a greedy pig.”

No, with such an openly offered dowry, didn’t she realize this could easily lead to an actual engagement?

Once finalized, even if the engagement is broken later, it would only leave losses for both sides.

I suddenly found the document annoyingly spiteful.

Then, as if nothing had happened, she casually slipped the letter behind her and shrugged her shoulders.

“You caused this mess, so you should take responsibility, right?”

“At this point, we should just collect the dowry properly and return it later.”

“Leon, you still don’t seem to fully understand, so let me explain it to you.”

Leaning back in her chair, she crossed her legs.

“Political marriages, you see, sometimes happen when someone suddenly proposes it outright. But in cases like yours, it starts with a mere rumor and snowballs uncontrollably. That’s why the royal family or major houses are so quick to suppress such scandals.”

“…”

“It’s an order from the acting family head. Don’t let your missteps affect the family.”

“Damn it, yes ma’am.”

She smirked and pouted mockingly.

“Oh, yes ma’am~ This actually feels kind of nice. See, this is how you should always respect me.”

“You’re as vicious as a Megalodon, living up to your monstrous nature.”

No matter how much others call Melissa beautiful and elegant, in my eyes, she’s nothing more than a trilobite.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

This was all a seed I had sown myself, not knowing enough about noble society.

Of course, I only asked them to spread a small rumor; I never asked for them to send a dowry, but as Melissa said, I was too naive.

Even that old man probably knew.

And yet, he didn’t say a word of warning.

[He gave plenty of warnings. Based on my analysis, even if he hadn’t, judging by the Sword Saint’s actions at the time, he likely welcomed this development.]

“Shut up.”

I ground my teeth.

Fine, it’s just a dowry list.

Let’s not overthink it.

It’s a matter that can be canceled easily with the right excuses.

Melissa must be thinking lightly of it because she knows that too.

She probably also figured there was a chance I wouldn’t be able to resist the opportunity.

“Oh, can I be honest?”

Melissa, who had been humming while looking through the dowry list, suddenly clasped her hands together and rested her chin on them, her expression turning serious.

It was so sudden, my scalp tingled.

“What?”

“Watching you panic is so entertaining.”

Of course, her serious expression vanished in an instant, leaving only a mocking smirk designed to tease me.

As I pulled the dagger stuck in the door, she also drew a spare dagger.

“What, are you planning a mutiny? Come on. It’s your death or mine today.”

Her relentless antics left me sighing deeply.

“Ugh, forget it.”

I asked for a small rumor to be spread, but the scale of it all left me dizzy.

However, since I’ve already established that this is a fake engagement, as long as there’s no lady from the other side suddenly insisting on marriage...

Even the Sword Saint won’t take things any further.

“Oh, right. I’ll be heading to the royal palace soon.”

“For the royal-certified expert and count approval?”

Melissa was already an expert.

For her to become a count, she needed royal-certified expert approval first, followed by the king’s appointment.

Whether I liked it or not, she had to visit the Bata Royal Palace.

“You’re staying here?”

“No, I’ll follow.”

“I thought you didn’t like it there.”

It didn’t matter anymore.

The royal capital is practically the lion’s den.

It’s home to the nobles who backed Tyvel.

Of course, I couldn’t let Melissa go alone.

“I’ll go because I’m worried.”

“Fine, I’ll gratefully accept.”

She seemed quite satisfied.

The fact that Tyvel had been dealt with and her stress significantly reduced probably contributed.

About four days later.

Melissa and I boarded a carriage, taking only the bare minimum number of people, and headed for the royal palace.

Clatter!

“What’s that?”

Melissa tilted her head at the small blue box in my arms.

“It’s nothing.”

It was alive, but I didn’t know what might pop out while I was away, so I had no choice but to bring it.

Thankfully, it didn’t seem like there would be any immediate changes.

[Translator - Night]

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